The Best Friend's Baby
by RockingCass12
Summary: Their Story was a strange one. They were the best of friends but led different lives. She was tired of waiting to start a family and he didn't mention something important to her. As a result they will come together in the most wonderful way. The question is- Are they up for it?
1. Chapter 1

**WHAT AM I DOING? I SHOULD BE UPDATING OTHER STORIES AND LOOK AT ME! Yes this is indeed a new Nalu story. **

**I've seen so many Pregnant Lucy fics and wanted to make my own. I tried to be original to the others and not clash with another author. That would be embarrassing…**

**I hope you will like it!**

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Once in our lives we've stopped to notice that things are nowhere near where we want them to be. And in one moment you can possibly change everything around, regardless if it's better or worse. Your job status, interests, funds, relationships can all change tomorrow if you wanted it too.

In the long run this was not what these two were expecting at all.

The rain poured down lightly that evening. The summer's day had a calling for earlier with the heat wave passing through the town. The smell of water hitting the dry earth was so rich and fresh. The sound of the rain was therapeutic and settling for children who had just laid their heads on their pillows and their mothers finally sitting down for the first time that day. The rain was romantic, perfect for intimacy and to break out a bottle of wine whilst under a light blanket.

Really, the town of Magnolia was quant that evening.

One other thing that brought the rain was that the happy Fairy Tail bar was outstandingly full that drizzly evening. Their Friday was the best night there, apart from it being the start of the weekend, it was the staff and regular clients that created the homey atmosphere.  
Happy drunken laughs filled the bar almost to the brim. Almost…

A saddening moan came from the corner of the bar. A young man was overturned with emotional pain. The course of events became a domino effect and there was a guarantee that it hasn't finished yet.

The stench of Rum was potent and a soft smell of cigarettes came from his clothes. His pink hair was yanked and pulled in different directions by his own hands, signs of stress was clear. Confusion was stronger next to regret. So all there was to do in the whirlwind of his emotions was to place himself in the corner and drown himself in booze.

He was missing from the previous day and had suddenly showed up to the bar at five in the afternoon; the last person he saw was her. He made a call or two but all went to voicemail. He turned off his phone since then and ordered his first rum and coke. It wasn't long till he was near the edge and decided to get water instead. He wanted to torture himself worse than what alcohol could do, and that was remembering this night. Stirring in his own emotions and pain was the masochist's path, even though he'd never thought he'd go that route.

His eyes were shutting and reopening from tiredness, not just from the day's events but the whole week. The stress was eating at him since Monday, his work was suffering and his pocket was becoming lighter.

Groaning he pulled himself to sit straight and he pulled out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket and inhaled the puffs of nicotine. Under his eyes were signs of tiredness and worry. His uninterested eyes wondered around the bar which was happily buzzing. He continued like that for several moments before recognising someone who walked in the bar seemingly looking for someone, the pinkette had a good idea who that person was.

He roughly turned his head and pulled his jacket's hoodie over his head and slumped in his chair. He waited a few minutes and sighed in relief he wasn't discovered.

His thoughts jinxed him.

His hood was yanked off his head and he was momentarily frozen. He slowly turned his head to see an all too familiar cocky face, The Man behind him was known as his best friend but that thought always varied. His black hair was shaggy, and his eyes; instead of its familiar coldness or lack of emotion, looked alive and furious. And his mouth was in its normal scowl but the young man detected that the scowl he was wearing currently, wasn't the natural kind but was one he caused.

"Why in Hells name haven't you been answering my calls you Bastard!" the dark haired man said.

The pinkette's tired eyes rolled and he kept his mouth sealed.

The darker head male sighed frustratingly "Natsu, Lisanna is in a state. She told me you broke up with her last night."

Natsu looked down at his lap "Is that a problem, Gray?" his replied bitterly.

Gray rolled his eyes "Well I'm not sure. I don't know what went on between you guys." He replied coolly.

Natsu sighed and pointed to the seat across from him at the table. Gray slumped in and watched his friends unravelling and patiently waiting for his explanation after he lit another smoke.

"I guess you have an idea as to why I broke up with Lisanna." Natsu began.

Gray's scowl deepened "Natsu that was the whole point of you dating Lisanna, so you could forget about _her_."

Adding some of the ash in the ash tray he decided to leave it there "I've been dating Lisanna for almost a year Gray, and I wasn't in love. Sure she did distract me but she didn't make me fall out of love with _her._"

Gray stopped scowling but put on a sad expression "You know all too well you can't be with Lucy Heartfilia. She's close to getting engaged."

Natsu smiled sadly "She sent me a text yesterday saying she's positive it's gonna happen tonight."

Gray's eyes widened "So that's why you and Lisanna…"

Natsu stopped him "I'm not going interfere with Lucy and Sting. I just couldn't lie to myself anymore. And I couldn't lead Lisanna on anymore."

Gray smiled lightly and recoiled his fingers into a fist and placed it in the middle of the table. Natsu looked at it and smiled slightly and did the same and fist pumped his friend.

"Let's get you out of here and do something crazy."

Natsu had this thought in his mind since yesterday and it was definitely crazy.

"I have an idea."

…

Standing in front of the medical building that was open 24/7 Gray was sweating bricks "You can't be serious man! Are you drunk or retarded… wait you are, but even retarded people wouldn't do this."

Natsu tried to ignore the retarded comment but he unconsciously punched his friend hard in the arm. "I have my reasons for this. I think I'd be making someone happy and in the future it would be pretty interesting."

Gray wasn't convinced "Dude for goodness sake of all the medical facilities you could go to for help, you just had to choose a God damn Sperm bank?!"

Natsu sighed gallingly "Gray, I always wanted a kid, and really it looks like I won't be having one with Lucy, so I don't mind doing it this way."

Gray looked to the building once more and to his friend's face which was extremely serious. He gave up.

Natsu smiled and started climbing the entrance stairs and opened the glass door with Gray behind him. The inside of the building was brightly lit and so clean you could lick off the floor. The desk he approached was tall and made of a beautiful mosaic glass. Behind the desk was a small girl, maybe of the age of 19, her Blue long hair was pulled into pigtails and her stature was very childlike.

She looked up from her paperwork and smiled sweetly at the two men. Natsu nervously played with his fingers and finally stepped forward to talk to the young lady.

"Evening sir, how can I help you?"

Natsu looked back to Gray then back to the girl "I'd like to donate a sample."

Her hands already reached the cabinet for files to fill in but stopped herself when she smelt something peculiar about the man. "Sir, you are sober right?" she asked

Natsu cursed at himself in his head "I'll admit I had a lot to drink tonight, but I'm sober enough to make this decision."

Her face was concerned and unsure but Natsu continued before she made her decision to dismiss them or not. "Listen, there's a 98% chance I might not have a kid with the woman I love, and frankly I don't want to marry someone I don't love just to have a kid. This way will be better and I can be good friends with the mom. I might make some lady very happy."

She stared at him with surprise and she looked down at the forms and to the pinkette again.

"Alright, but I have a witness here if you try to sue us later." She said referring to Gray.

Natsu's mouth spread into a large smile which made the young lady smile too. She brought out a form.

"I'll fill this in for you to avoid suspicion. Just give me your ID and I'll take the details from there."

He handed her his ID and home address to fill in and she moved onto the next set of questions "Now it's your choice for how many woman you can give samples too." She explained

"No no, just one lady." Natsu said quickly.

Her pen glided across the page and she stood up with the form attached to a clipboard.

"Follow me and we can do some tests to see if you are a suitable applicant."

Natsu gulped but stopped her before she started moving "Just one thing before I forget. If it's accepted, would you tell me if my… little soldiers worked on the woman who bought them?"

She wrote down the request on her board and smiled at him "Now let's start"

After several tests, the pinkette was accepted and left the Sperm bank feeling slightly better than earlier and even had some cash in his pocket. The two men walked down the street on the beautiful summers evening and the rain from earlier made it humid, the smell of the wet earth pleased their noses.

They stayed in silence, as they walked home he saw many bistros with many laughing couples enjoying their dinner and candle light. His mind would wonder to the certain blonde that has been plaguing his mind for months on end.

…

Sitting at the small Italian Bistro, a blonde couple was eating by candle light, she sat in her chair shaking, her eyes were blurred and the large beads of tears raced down her face. She felt like knocking the table over and kicking it hard, but all she could do was sit there and cry.

"Lucy, please just hear me out" a males voice said to her with much strain in his voice.

Her brown orbs that were looking down refusing to meet his, betrayed her and looked up at him with her face wet and puffy. A few others looked over to their table but she didn't care, she wept to hearts content.

His dark blue orbs showed no signs of weakness, his expression was blank, his voice never changed.

"Who is she?" The blonde woman sputtered out.

The man in front of her scowled a bit "Lucy, just because I want us to split doesn't mean-"

She couldn't let him finish "Well of course it does! What else would it be? If you weren't feeling good vibes here you could have left a long time ago. I won't ask again Sting."

His forehead was gaining small beads of sweat "It's Yukino."

She abruptly stood up and collected the money in her purse and angrily threw it at his face. "That'll cover my half."

"Lucy, come on." He said in a sympathetic tone.

She ignored him and walked out the bistro ignoring his calls and hailed a cab. Once the cab came, she roughly threw her things in and planted herself in the back seat. She saw Sting getting upset in the restaurant before she went off in the cab. The flashing lights they passed distracted her slightly but the turmoil inside of her was fuming, wanting to explode.

It was by far the most embarrassing and heart-breaking thing she had endured. What she had hoped for was an engagement but she received a harsh break up and also discovered it was for another woman. She thought she was in a perfect relationship; she just wished she had seen the signs, at least to spare herself from the heartache.

The cab stopped in front of her quant townhouse, she leapt out and gave the driver a 20 because she felt bad about crying in the back seat.

Her heels were hurting her ankles and she slowly walked to the front door and unlocked it. She threw off her heels and heard her Scottish terrier run from outside through the doggy door and sliding himself on the wooden floor to meet her. His paws were slightly brown, probably from enjoying his bone outside. His happy demeanour broke her down to tears and made her slump to the floor grabbing the pooch and crying into his fur.

Her black dress was now covered in long white dog hair and his fur was damp from tears. He licked her face which made her giggle. His tail swished back and forth showing his owner that he loves her. Smiling at him with tears running down her face, she stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Your right Plue, I need to pull myself together. And I think I'll start by taking a shower and putting this in the wash." She referred to the furry dress.

She climbed upstairs and ran a cool shower and sat on the large shower floor to lean back and soak while washing her hair. She climbed out feeling fresh and she put on her baggy pyjama pants with a three quarter loose top. She twisted her wet hair in a bun and finally put on her cow-faced slippers.

She cleaned Plue's feet too before putting her kettle on to make tea, and looked to her phone while it boiled. All her friends wished her luck before dinner.

Oh the Irony.

After making her Cocoa she sat on her big cosy couch which she and Plue sat on every night.

Once Plue sat next to her she cuddled him more "Oh Plue, looks like you'll be the only family member I have."

He barked back excitedly and she laughed "Hey, come on Plue, you know I think having a baby around would mean more love for you"

After hearing Plue whimpered sadly. "You know, I really want a baby Plue, and I thought maybe Sting was the ticket to it. I'm too sad to even think about dating someone else."

The Terrier nuzzled his face in her leg and looked up at her with big black beady eyes. She rubbed his head and slightly giggled "Come to think of it, Sting never really liked you. He's really a cat person." She remembered and Plue growled.

Slumping in the couch she noticed on the table by the kitchen there was mail she needed to sort through. She picked herself up moving Plue a bit and grabbed the mail before returning back to her spot. She sorted through the large pile of junk mail but stopped when she saw an unusual pamphlet.

_Donor Insemination _

Curious at the pamphlets contents she opened it up,

_Many women today have had many problems facing child bearing whether they are infertile, their husbands can't impregnate or simply because many woman want children but have no man to start a family with. Donor Insemination has had many eligible candidates donate Sperm and Eggs for those who want to start their families. _

_If you are interested in purchasing semen and going through the procedure free of charge please contact us to make an appointment._

_It's not the end of the line; you can still have a family._

Lucy's eyes began to blur again. She wiped her eyes and smiled at the dog next to her.

"Plue. We're gonna have a baby."

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**I'm so sorry for the short beginning but I wanted to stop somewhere to create suspense.**

**Leave a lovely review to start this off and just a little info to the people who follow my stories that the next story I'm updating is Back on Her Feet.**

**Leave a review to help build this Story up!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second Chapter here!**

**If anyone is on tumblr you can follow me on the same pen name Rockingcass12. **

**Happy Nalu week everyone! Btw for the Fullmetal Alchemist fans it is also Edward Elric appreciation week :)**

**Leave a review for this chappie and get this author inspired for the next update :)**

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The building in front of Lucy sent shivers up and down her spine in anticipation and anxiousness. The stairs ascending looked so steep and high, her mind was playing tricks on her. And the little voice in the back of her head warned her of her decision of not telling her friends before making her choice.

But her mind was set on only telling them if she finally became pregnant. She knew for sure that if she had informed them prior, they would talk her out of it.

She had already had to fight with herself to come. But even that left her questioning herself.

She let out a puff of air and lifted her leg to take the first step upwards.

One by one her attention was focusing more on the fact she might be a mother soon. The thought began to feel dreamlike.

In the blink of an eye she fazed back to her senses and saw that she had already arrived at the front desk were she was greeted by a set of confused eyes and a small greeting smile.

Lucy's gulped and felt her mouth go dry. The young woman behind the desk wasn't even intimidating!

"May I help you ma'am?" the blue haired nurse asked.

The blonde blinked several times confused, forgetting how she had planned to converse with the nurse in the first place.

Stumbling Lucy finally opened her mouth. "I- uh- hello I'm Lucy Heartfilia, sorry should've said that first. I- I made an appointment to um to buy-"

Slapping herself in the face Lucy turned bright red at the fact that she couldn't tell the nurse she was buying a gosh darn sperm. Engrossed in her embarrassment the small nurse piped up finishing her sentence for her.

"You want to buy a donation?" she asked with such gentleness.

Lucy moved her hand off her face and nodded slightly.

On the corner of her eye Lucy saw the young nurses name tag that read 'Wendy'. The blonde thought to herself that it definitely suited the sweet looking demeanour she carried with her, as if she wears her heart on her sleeve.

Lucy nodded and chuckled embarrassedly.

"Yeah, well I booked for the insemination procedure."

The little nurse nodded sympathetically and pushed her wheeled chair to a desk behind her, retrieving specific files.

She sorted through what she wanted and stood up to walk around the beautiful mosaic desk.

"Ma'am this is a complex procedure. I'd like to speak to you of the process before you pick a donation."

Lucy briefly turned pale at the seriousness of the change of mood in Wendy's manner. Nodding in agreement Wendy gestured to a room near her desk. The small room was a cosy waiting area of sorts.

The young blonde sat down on the comfortable couch and sighed in pleasure which made Wendy giggle slightly. After sitting herself, Wendy adjusted her file and began the explaining of the procedure.

"So Miss Heartfilia, this is a very exciting decision but I want you to understand everything from choosing your donor to the insemination."

Lucy nodded and prepared herself to the upcoming information.

Wendy pulled out a large amount of papers and placed them in front of Lucy on the coffee table "These are all the candidates that have donated. We could lessen the load with the specifics you want. There are candidates that submitted under name and address and others anonymously leaving only their physical details as well as a description of their characteristics. All have been tested for diseases and there is no risk of fatality of your child in the future. We can narrow down what you like to your preferences."

Unexpectedly to Wendy, Lucy let a cheer of the information she just received. "What a relief! I was worried I might be sharing custody in the future if the father changed his mind. I would like the anonymous pile"

Halving the pile, Wendy then divided the anonymous pile into sub categories according to what her filing system was.

"I portioned them out into similar traits." She pointed out to the files laid out.

"Here we have the more advanced intellectual pile. Very high IQ's here..." Wendy pointed to the pile that she put her pen on top of.

"Here we have the artistic and creative personalities…" she pointed to the smallest pile.

"And last but not least the Energetic and more physically focused pile. It's the most popular pile."

Lucy's head was slightly spinning at options in front of her. Wendy let her silently converse, she did offer Lucy to take the files home but Lucy wanted to decide at the given moment. Going over what her child would turn out to be by each category, she was oddly attracted to the last pile since it was a category she was lacking in.

Knowing what category she wanted, she wasn't too picky on physical appearances, so she did the spontaneous thing.

"Um… I'm seriously not picky on physical appearances so I want the last submission of the last pile"

Wendy picked up the larger pile and dug to the last file at the bottom and then put it into her official folder to find the numbering of the donation. After sorting the rest of the files back to the side she placed a form in front of Lucy.

"Listed on this form are the types of procedures. I'll explain the different ones but it's important for you to read and sign for legal terms. Then we'll check if you are ovulating this week."

Lucy nodded at the younger woman and looked down to follow along with Wendy as she went through the procedures.

"Due to your purchase on this newly dated donor, I have to inform you of why you're permitted to receive it. It's usually the case that a sperm must be frozen for 6 months before use. But here in Magnolia medical developments, renowned doctor Grandine Marvel has invented a super freezer that turned 6 months of freezing into a day. "

Lucy's eyes had grown a few inches in awe "I heard about that! Does she work here at this clinic too?"

Wendy smiled proudly "Yes she does. And to comfort you about this procedure she will be handling your appointment, if you qualify through ovulating."

While Wendy carried on, Lucy felt nervous throughout her reading of the procedure and the terms and conditions and not the actual part of becoming pregnant afterwards.

It sounded easy enough; but the safest route was intrauterine insemination. It claims to be the less painful route and is combined with superovulation medicine that increases the amount of eggs.

Scary as it sounded Lucy was anxious to see if she could perform the method today. After Wendy finished speaking she left the office briefly to bring back what looked like a pregnancy test.

"It's an ovulation test. It works the same as a pregnancy test. The bathroom is right over there." Wendy pointed out.

Afterwards time had slowed down incredibly, waiting to see if the stick would show positive or negative. Lucy chuckled to herself, imagining what she would be like waiting for an answer for a pregnancy test.

Lucy sat with Wendy in one of the doctors rooms waiting till the stick changed colour. Looking down at the darn thing for the tenth time in a minute it finally changed.

"Great, I will inform Doctor Grandine to prepare!" Wendy smiled.

Lucy didn't know why that positive made her grin so much but the moment had finally arrived were she could finally have a chance to have a baby.

Waiting in the room for the doctor and nurse to arrive the blonde felt her phone vibrate vigorously in her bag. Pulling out the device she saw a caller ID she hadn't seen in what felt like an eternity.

"Hi Natsu" she answered.

"Good to know you're not dead Luce" he joked

She did feel kind of dead from the recent past events. And it saddened her to think of how long it has been since she's spoken to her best friend. How long had it been? Three, four months?

"Same to you." She giggled.

A small silence swept over the phone until he spoke again "So how did the other night go? Sorry I didn't reply to your message but work got caught up."

A small ache went through her chest at what he was referring to, the so called engagement she thought would happen. Clenching her fist slightly she tried not to let her voice tremble, otherwise he would notice.

"Uh yeah it's okay, I understand you're busy and well you didn't need to worry anyway since it didn't happen…"

"Oh sorry, maybe it'll be soon though." He said in a monotone tone.

Seeing doctor Grandine coming on her way to her she felt like she needed to wrap up the call; even though she wanted to talk to her best friend more, she didn't have the time.

"Hey Natsu, I have to go but can we see each other tomorrow night. I need to see you."

She hadn't meant that any more in a friendly way but she felt the heat rise to her cheeks after hearing what she had said.

She heard him gulp slightly on the phone "Umm... tomorrow's no good. I kinda bailed on work for a week so I'll be working overtime. Maybe next Friday? And I'll make dinner, come around seven and bring Plue since Happy misses him."

She smiled sweetly hearing the statement. "Yeah Plue misses Happy too, considering Happy is the only cat Plue will ever like. See you soon"

Whining at her lack of trust of him Natsu then chuckled at the semi truth in her statement "See ya Luce. Don't do anything crazy till then!"

"Bye Natsu." She said softly before hanging up.

She had forgotten the warm feeling he gave her when he simply spoke to her. Thinking about the fact they have hardly seen each other for such a long period of time made her feel sick all of the sudden. After that call, she will admit, she felt more at peace and more confident to start this daunting but blessed assignment ahead of her.

Natsu always had that effect on her.

The Doctor had tapped Lucy on the shoulder startling her from her daydream. The older woman led her to the room to start the progress.

Wendy was behind the two holding a hospital gown and then handing it to Lucy.

"Official greetings are in order Miss Heartfilia, I'm Doctor Marvel, and you already met Nurse Marvel" she pointed behind her.

Lucy blinked. Nurse Marvel?

"You two are?"

Wendy smiled "Yes she's my mother. Believe it or not, my mom became pregnant with me through insemination."

Lucy was in awe, for the reason being it was the first time she has met someone who has had a successful insemination and a healthy child grow up splendidly. Lucy had internally sighed in relief from the questions regarding that lying in the back of her head.

"Miss Heartfilia, strip down and put this gown on. On your arrival take a seat over here then we can start your preparation." Doctor Grandine pointed to the chair in the middle of the room.

Lucy complied and used the bathroom that connected next to the room. Awkward as it was she stepped out only wearing the gown, feeling as naked as a jaybird. She sat down where she was told and observed the two Marvels, no pun intended, prepare for the technique.

It had dawned upon Lucy what was going to happen.

'Oh… right. They have to stick a tube up my-'

* * *

Lucy lay in her bed wide awake; her mind was traveling at high speed with no hesitation. She was imagining things from what had happened almost two weeks ago. She hadn't even left the house since then, unless it was to the drug store buying pregnancy tests. She was wondering if she would've -or rather should've- told her friends.

She remembered after the procedure was done after the sperm was placed in her, she had to wait in a certain position for a certain amount of time. She doesn't even remember how long she was sitting there for but it felt like an eternity till the timer would go off.

When it did she went to go change again and Doctor Grandine afterwards instructed her to go home straight away and to avoid any strenuous activities.

Before doing so she had to deal with the financial aspect of it. To the unfortunate standing of it being so expensive, Lucy finally had the heart to open her saving that her father left her after his death. But deep inside she felt that her dad would be happy for her.

So now here she was lying in bed processing it all once again, like she had the first night she came home.

While lying on her side she felt her stomach cramp slightly, she winced slightly and fluttered her eyes open fully. Her analogue read it was as early as four am.

How long had she slept?

She was constantly checking with pregnancy tests to really care about sleeping anymore.

"It wouldn't hurt to check" she thought out loud.

Making her mind up, she got out of bed and put the side lamp to her bed on. It startled Plue slightly while he was in his basket temporarily.

Her bare feet felt sticky on the floor as she walked to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her she opened the box sitting on the basin and skipped the instructions as it seemed so familiar to her by now.

Finishing up the unpolished part of the test, she put on her timer on her phone and sat on the closed toilet seat. Tapping her seat in impatience she observed the useless aspects of her bathroom such as tile flooring.

Hearing the ping of her phone made her breath hitch and her heart race.

Closing her eyes she picked up the stick and refused to re-open her eyes.

Breathing slowly she found the courage to open inch by inch.

The test clattered against the floor along with beads of tears.

"I'm pregnant" she mumbled.

Bringing her head up her smile was trembling trying to not burst out in feverish tears.

What she wanted for so long is finally here.

* * *

Early hours of Friday morning went surprising well for Natsu. He got up early for work at the Fire Brigade and noticed his desk had a fresh cup of coffee waiting just for him.

He personally was in a dream state sitting still by his desk before starting his coffee and work. Why was he in a dream state? He was excited, no he was overly excited, to see none other than Lucy Heartfilia. A.k.a the girl he's secretly madly in love with.

Judging by when he phoned her the week before, her and Sting must have had a falling out. As much as he didn't want to be, he did rejoice internally. So tonight was racking his brain for the outcome of how it'll end.

He tried to push his anxiousness back and to get on with his work and drink his coffee before it went cold.

Sighing in delight from the first sip he viewed the small pile of paper work and internally thanked himself for doing the bigger pile the day before. Starting on the first document his phone loudly bursted out in a metal scream which made him jump out of his skin. He immediately grabbed the cell and slid his finger on the green icon at lighting fast speed.

"This is Dragneel" he said formally.

"Good Morning Mr Dragneel. This is Nurse Marvel from the insemination division at Magnolia's medical centre."

"Oh… Is something wrong?" Natsu asked

"Oh no Mr Dragneel, I'm following up on your request when you donated. It was to let you know if your donation was successful on its purchaser."

"Oh… I totally forgot about that. So it went well?" He said scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"It was a success. Hope your day goes well Mr Dragneel"

But little did he know how the end of his day would turn out.

* * *

**I'm just going to let my readers digest all of this.**

**I did some research on this so I hope I didn't offend. The part about Grandine's invention on the super freezer thing is of my own idea to properly sync in the story. **

**Sorry if it was slightly boring but I think it was necessary.**

**Thanks to all those following! **

**Leave a nice review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**I have a lot of apologising to do…**

**First, to those who got notified on tumblr that I'd be posting last week, I'm very sorry I didn't. I was assaulted last week and was almost robbed but I fended the robber off but I had to go through a process at the police station and I had to deal with personal commitments on the weekend that followed. Writing was pushed back a lot unfortunately.**

**Second, small apology okay… actually a bit of a big apology. Unluckily my fanfiction 'Back on her feet' will be put on a **_**temporary **_**hiatus. Just until 'Salamander the Great' reaches its 20th chapter. Reason I chose it was because I need to get some other stories progressing and so I can reconnect with it. So sorry again but please don't think I won't commit to my other stories, Back on her feet was an impulse to write and I didn't think ahead to how I can keep it going for more than 30k, fret not I will plan properly like with the rest of my fanfictions! **

**Thanks for understanding and enjoy chapter 3!**

* * *

Since his phone call from Nurse Marvel, Natsu had to admit his mind was wandering to the fact that he made someone very happy right now. The fact was that he was grinning the whole day with his white pearly teeth, although sharp looking, didn't falter.

After his long day of work at the Fire Brigade, he half-heartedly did his work since his mind was on how to go about on the night planned ahead with Lucy.

He walked to the local farmers market to pick out the curry ingredients he needed to cook with, oddly the day before Lucy requested the meal. Usually she hated spicy food but she insisted she wanted some and Natsu wasn't going to object. Finding spices was the trickiest part, since everything looked alike. But the pink haired man had a knack for recognising the smells of different spices.

Working his way around to find the cumin, his ears picked up to the commotion at the homemade ice-cream stand nearby.

"This Ice cream is manly! Man!"

He knew that voice all too well. His awkwardness radiated from his body language. He slumped down and turned around to head away from the familiar voice.

Elfman Straus- aka his ex-girlfriends brother, scratch that, his ex-girlfriends incredibly buff brother. The man was over 6 feet tall and could easily snap Natsu in two. It actually was a tad ironic that he is a sibling of Lisanna and his other sister Mirajane who really were sweet harmless people, scratch that, Mira can be more of a threat sometimes.

Natsu only figured if Elfman spotted him, he would be caught in a rowdy fight. He wouldn't mind being in a fight, no he loves fights. Making Lisanna the key for starting a fight wasn't something he wanted though.

Natsu slinked back to the direction he came from and turned on his heel. Whilst retreating he heard the big muscled man call him, confirming that that he was seen.

"Natsu?" the larger man called out.

Cringing slightly Natsu straightened his posture and coughed awkwardly. Turning around he looked at the muscular looking man.

He wasn't sure how to pin Elfman's expression, it looked of a mixture of sympathy and resentment. Surely he can't be completely mad at Natsu, they are friends after all and Elfman was a big softie on the inside. Natsu could tell that him breaking up with his sister would be rocky, but friendship always prevails… right?

"Yo…" Natsu lamely greeted back.

He smiled even more awkwardly to his white haired friend, he shouldn't be sweating so much should he?

"How… how have been Natsu?" Elfman asked uncomfortably.

Natsu was slightly surprised at the Straus brother- no threats? Bashing? Intimidation? Big brother 'I'm going to make you pay for breaking up with my sister'?

Natsu's mind was on a fritz that he seemed slightly slow after Elfman asked his question "Oh!... Um… I could be better but okay… I'm okay."

"Oh… Good! That's good."

The two stood in silence for what felt like forever, consumed in agonising seconds that felt like hours. Natsu would've preferred being beaten up.

Natsu couldn't stand it anymore "Right, so, it was great seeing you again. I got to get going-"

"Natsu, I'm not sure what to do." Elfman interrupted.

His hard face was painted with worry, his eyes looking lost. Natsu wasn't sure what Elfman was referring to, was he talking to him as a friend or Lisanna's brother?

"Lisanna isn't over you, but I understand why you did it."

Natsu's face was twisted with confusion, before he could formulate a question the large white haired man carried on "I know this will sound weird but thank you. When you realised you weren't in love with her you ended it, not in the best way you could but as her brother I think I'd be angrier if you were leading her on."

The pinkette felt his voice disappear for a moment "Uh… you don't need to thank me, like you said I didn't want to hurt more than I have. But, what do you mean that you're not sure what to do?"

Elfman looked to the floor sadly "I don't like change, I kinda like the idea of having a brother soon and I don't want to take sides, so seeing you now makes me sorta guilty."

Natsu smiled sadly and playfully punched his friend in the arm "Don't get sappy on me man. You are a _man_ aren't you?" Natsu joked knowing what the next words out of Elfman would be.

"I am a **Man**!" The white haired male cried out grinning ear to ear flexing his muscles in the process.

"See, no harm we're still bros. I'll be seeing you around."

The two friends waved off and a surge of relief poured over Natsu. Hopefully that would be the only surprise he would have today.

* * *

Lucy was in a frazzle as the evening came. She wasn't sure if it was the pregnancy news she just received, or if she was experiencing the hormones that are accustomed with it, or the fact she was really nervous to be sharing the news with Natsu.

He would be the first she's telling about her insemination and pregnancy.

She was going to tell him despite what doctor Marvel said to her, when she went in to see it the baby was stable in its living environment and other check-ups, about not telling friends and family until the end of her first trimester.

Even though it's a high chance that the baby will make it through the first trimester, it is still a harsh time for a mother as there is still a chance of a miscarriage. Lucy agreed that if it was to fail, she wasn't going to tell a soul she was pregnant in the first place.

She felt differently about Natsu.

She can't explain it fully either, except that she really missed him during their little break from being friends and dating other people. She felt selfish and terrible about it because of her initiating it due to Sting's insecurity of her and the pinkette's close friendship.

During the time her and Sting were together and a subject that reminded her of Natsu came up, she would immediately feel guilty. Sting had great qualities but things she would speak about with her pink haired friend were not the same with Sting.

Natsu was and hopefully still is her best friend and she wanted to tell him everything tonight.

Nausea was sweeping through her as she was deciding to pick an outfit. She placed herself at the end of her bed and took a swig of her water she collected when she felt herself getting sick.

Her stomach gurgled weirdly which made her jump slightly, surprised. She told herself to get herself together

As she was peering at her clothes she found it odd that her request for dinner tonight was in fact curry, a meal she despised before but suddenly needed desperately.

She also feels lethargic recently and due to it, her lack of getting dressed up for dinner was non-existent. So she just settled with a light summery dress that required no effort to put on. She slid into sandals and noticed the daylight was setting, making a beautiful orange dusk.

While walking to the front door she grabbed Plue's spare water and dinner bowl along with his kibble neatly packed and stored in a light bag where she always stores his things when they went out.

The little white dog wagged his tail and panted excitedly for their trip out. When the leash clipped onto the Scottish terrier he tugged his blonde owner forward towards the front door.

Lucy smiled at her dog's enthusiasm whether he knew or not that they be visiting Natsu and Happy.

The Evening was a beautiful time for Magnolia, but then again every time is beautiful in the wonderful city. It had a glorious river that runs halfway into the city. In the spring time the cherry blossom trees dusted the streets with pink, the autumn time was filled with crunchy orange coloured leaves and winter the snow was always the whitest in Magnolia. But particularly every evening the city use special lights in the street lamps, preserving the gorgeous sight of the starry sky.

Lucy adored the stars that covered the night's sky; she made sure her room had a skylight so she could stargaze before falling asleep.

Lucy was gazing at the sky as she walked but had to remind herself to look back down to earth to watch were she is going.

She approached the accustomed path that led close to the forest. Cricket's chirped and an occasional buzz near her ear added to the sereneness of nature that she was walking past until she reached a small familiar cottage.

The heavenly scent of food surrounded the small building and Lucy involuntarily licked her lips. Plue excitedly pulled her towards Natsu's cottage and jumped on the door whining for it to be opened.

She knocked and heard a clatter in the kitchen and a quick shuffle to the door. She jumped slightly at the suddenness of the door opening hastily. The first thing she saw was a wide goofy grin she missed so much, accompanied with his messy locks falling in many directions and his black green eyes looking at her with such fondness.

"Heya Luce." He greeted

She even missed the nickname he used to call her. She smiled softly but was interrupted by the feeling of her leash slipping out her hands and seeing a blur of white run inside to meet a blur of blue.

Sighing at her dog she refocused on the pink haired man in front of her "Hey Natsu."

It's not something she usually did with Natsu but she closed the distance between them and hugged him so dearly like it was the last they'd have.

When they parted from another, a faint blush was brushed on her cheeks realising what she just did impulsively.

"Where did that come from?" Natsu joked while moving aside so she could enter.

She nervously giggled "Well … you know." She vaguely said and mentally asking herself the same question.

The pinkette just shrugged his shoulders and closed the door after she walked in.

"Feels like forever since we've hung out." Lucy said while setting her bag down and stretching widely.

It had been forever. Usually, though, Natsu would be the one going to her house to hang out. Not to mention he would misuse her spare key she hides in one of the pots and break in without her permission. She would always be surprised by his 'sudden' visits.

"Well things will definitely go back to normal. I have a lot to tell you though." The pinkette commented seriously.

Lucy's brow rose in confusion at her friend and nodded slightly "Same here…"

Natsu broke the deathly silence that was almost upon them "Well let's eat! Why don't you feed Plue and I'll dish up our grub." He suggested.

The blonde woman smiled as he hopped off to the kitchen and she did as he suggested. She noticed that Plue had dashed off to play with Happy. Only when he heard the rustling of his dinner did he come rushing back in excitement.

Lucy dusted her hands after putting the bowl down and felt a bit worried for the blue cat watching her dog eat.

"Natsu, has Happy eaten?" she called out.

"That little fatso ate a whole fish before you guys arrived!" he yelled from the kitchen.

The newly pregnant woman giggled at the site of the so-called-fatso eying out her dog's food.

Natsu's footsteps invaded her ears which made her turn around and made her nose smell the delightful scent of her formerly-hated meal.

Natsu grinned at her and set her meal at the small dining table just for them. She was surprised at the effort he put into their dinner tonight.

"I'll be honest, I was thinking another person messaged me to make curry for dinner. Is your 'friend' visitin' or somethin'?" he jested.

She huffed at the 'friend' visiting part and ignored it after the childish remark. She took a heaped spoon and placed it in her mouth and moaned in delight at the array of spices coming through and the heat slowing spreading on her palate.

Her stomach gurgled in delight as she took the last bit of her meal which surprised her since she must off spaced out during the meal until her last bite.

"You okay Luce? You finished dinner before me!" Natsu laughed.

She stared at her plate contemplating whether it was the right time to tell him. Natsu noticed her serious contemplating, his laughter died down and the room was silent.

"Luce?" Natsu called to her curiously.

She got out of her mental trance and looked at him. His eyebrows were creased with confusion, his dark green eyes that looked close to black stared at her quizzically patiently waiting for her to reply to him.

"Natsu… I want to tell you something, and I want you to be the first to know."

Natsu's posture straightened and his face displayed anticipation and worry by the tone his blonde best friend used.

"Nearly three weeks ago, Sting and I broke up."

Natsu's heart fluttered slightly at the news but he knew he had to be a friend first "Oh Luce, I'm sor-"

"Don't apologise." She interrupted.

Natsu could hear in her tone that that wasn't what she wanted to bring into attention. The butterfly feeling in his belly turned into a knot now.

"I'm not really supposed to be telling this to anyone for the time being, but I'm so excited I need to tell someone other than Plue." She joked.

Natsu stayed quiet and his heart dropped when he finally heard her say.

"I'm pregnant."

Natsu never has been a guy that would display emotions that weren't… well Natsu. His belly flopped over and he could feel bile rise up his throat.

All he could think about is that it was… _his_. And now they are broken up? What kind of life would this baby have?

Lucy coughed waiting for Natsu to say something. "Uhh… wow! That's great news Luce but won't it make things complicated with you and Sting now?" he said trying to hide the distain in his voice.

Her eyes widened as she realised his misunderstanding "Oh no Natsu, it isn't Sting's!"

"What?! Then whose is it?!" Natsu screamed with his voice going higher.

Lucy looked to the floor and nervously giggled "Well you see… I don't really know."

Natsu's eyes looked dilated, his mouth was slack and he wouldn't move an inch; but that only lasted a few seconds before he abruptly stood up and started to run around his cottage yelling like a psycho.

"You don't know whose it is?! Did someone rape you Lucy?! Tell me where I can find the bastard! I'll make him pay! That Bastard, wait till I get my hands on him!"

Lucy stood up after him trying to catch him from his quick jerks around the dining area and yelling out cusses.

"NATSU!" she screamed which helped because he stood absolutely still at the call of his name.

She grabbed his arm, which was in mid-air as he was having his tantrum, and pulled it down to his side. Her fingers still lingered on his arm and his pulse was rising higher that it was when he was running around like an idiot.

"Natsu, the reason I don't know whose it is, is because I was inseminated two weeks ago at the hospital."

Natsu's panic rose "W- when did you confirm you were pregnant Luce?"

Lucy expected a different reaction and didn't expect such a specific question "T-today… Why do you ask?"

Natsu's brain was near exploding and all he could hear was the conversation he had this morning over the phone.

"_Good Morning Mr Dragneel. This is Nurse Marvel from the insemination division at Magnolia's medical centre."_

"_Oh… Is something wrong?" Natsu asked _

"_Oh no Mr Dragneel, I'm following up on your request when you donated. It was to let you know if your donation was successful on its purchaser."_

"… _So it went well?" He said scratching the back of his head awkwardly._

"_It was a success. Hope your day goes well Mr Dragneel"_

* * *

**I was hoping to write more but I'm having trouble elaborating when it comes to this story.**

**No matter I hope I didn't bore you guys. And I'm trying super-duper hard to update my other stuff so I can get to chapter 4.**

**For those who don't know, myself and the talented Jellybeanbubbles have started on a collaboration called 'My Dear Lord Dragon Hunter'. Check it out, there's a link in my bio to it and give us fruit for your thoughts, it would mean a lot to us :)**

**JBB: Yes please, every reader helps, especially when they leave a review XD**


	4. Chapter 4

**H****i all! So last time I updated it seemed a portion of you were really anxious and wanted more updates quicker, I'm so flattered! Serious you guys like why? Like you actually like this story? It's hard to believe it's true.**

**It is a little hard though to update fast since I have other stories but I'm trying really hard to update faster but alas creativity is slow going and now it's June already! This year is going to damn fast.**

**ANYWAY I'm super happy you all like the story so far and to be honest I'm nervous as hell to show you more chapters.**

**Without further ado here's chapter four!**

* * *

No matter how hard Natsu tried he couldn't close his eyes to sleep.

His anxiety kept him solidly awake in his bed for hours and hours, by the time he looked to his alarm clock that illuminated in the dark it was already three in the morning. He turned roughly to face the other side of the room away from the sight of his alarm.

He tried closing his eyes and repeatedly told himself the same thing..

_'__Sleep. Don't think about.'_

But that only made it worse since it drew back the fresh memory every time.

_'"__I'm not really supposed to be telling this to anyone for the time being, but I'm so excited I need to tell someone other than Plue." She joked._

_Natsu stayed quiet and his heart dropped when he finally heard her say._

_"__I'm pregnant."'_

He thought his heart was torn out at that moment, just picturing her having a baby with Sting was well… unbearable. Thank Mavis she claimed it wasn't Sting's, that made his heart revive from the shock.

Until…

_'"__Natsu the reason I don't know who it is, is because I was inseminated two weeks ago at the hospital."'_

The same week he donated she went in, the day she went to confirm at the hospital was the same day the nurse called him to tell him his donation worked.

After the news at his home, Natsu insisted he was happy for her without mentioning any of his activity at the same establishment. He even pulled off a cheerful smile like the happy uncle Natsu Lucy called him by.

So, was it really true that he could be the father?

Or was it just a coincidence that more than one woman were confirmed two weeks pregnant and the same Fertility centre? Was he looking too deep into this? Otherwise the odds were too impossible.

But he couldn't side step this matter because there's still a small possibility that this weird coincidence is real.

It's quite ironic; they both would end up on the same boat because of something they decided to do in such a brash moment.

Friends with Kids… nothing wrong with that, he hoped.

But first things first, he needs to go back to where it started.

* * *

Black clouds surrounded the city and it poured down hard that Saturday morning. The sky unleashed buckets upon buckets of summer rain and the murky looking sky lit up with multiple bolts of lightning, along with the rumbling growls of thunder.

Natsu peered out the window of the cab looking at the hospital he was going to enter today. He already felt ill from the car ride there but looking at the building churned his stomach more.

He hesitated exiting the cab, just staring at the front door, but his hand was so close to the handle it was twitching erratically and his face is so close to the window his rigid breath was fogging the glass. With one final puff of air he exited the car into the pouring rain.

He quickly pulled the hoodie of his jacket over his pink head and dashed up the stairs without slipping. He was successful until he went through the door into a dark building and tripped.

He rubbed his head to check for injuries before finally noticing that the building had no power what-so-ever. In the dark he squinted to see if anyone was there until finally he saw a small haze of light in the corner by the front desk.

He cautiously went towards the only source of light while keeping his guard up due to the eerie atmosphere.

Did the electrical storm blow a substation in the area?

Odd…

He didn't realise he'd just arrived at the desk until a not-so-subtle cough let him know.

He looked to the source and it wasn't who he was expecting, which was the sweet and helpful young nurse but instead another girl.

She looked mean despite her nice girlish features, her hair was white and Natsu could almost liken her to a cat for some reason.

"Can I help you?" she asked in an unfriendly tone.

Natsu scoffed internally "Yeah, um... is the other nurse here today?"

"No, Wendy is not here today, everyone went home after the blackout and I'm finishing my work here so goodbye" she dismissed quickly

Natsu didn't let her faze him though "Well maybe you can help. I was phoned yesterday that my donation was successful and I wanted to know who it was."

The young girl gave him an unpleasant scowl "Your file indicates what type of candidate you are, if you are an unknown type we will not distribute that information, otherwise we would have already contacted you. Have a nice day, goodbye. " She dismissed

Natsu frowned and mumbled to himself and slowly started making his way out the door. Just before he could get halfway he heard the white head girl's phone ring and answer.

"This is Charle… Yes? Alright I'll have a look" she politely said over the phone.

The Pink haired man slowed his pace and looked back to see the woman had left her desk.

He stopped in place and wondered about… no that's illegal… but he walked back anyway.

He wasn't thinking clearly, he hadn't for a while nonetheless that isn't an excuse. Before he knew it though he was searching through the filing cabinets behind the desk.

It was a simple system with it being labelled, he figured first he'd check Lucy's file first then his.

Mavis must have been on his side since her file was the only one in the 'H' file. He briefly stopped to listen for anyone which was difficult since the rain was pouring harshly outside.

He positioned the file in a certain way to look at it.

'Name… blah blah blood type yadada… wait! Successful insemination, canidate 0601' he read inside his mind 'Crap am I 0601?'

He shoved the file back and kept still for any sounds of footsteps then proceeded to the cabinet labelled donators. They weren't labelled like the previous cabinet but were labelled in numbers.

There were hundreds and Natsu's heartrate shot through the roof thinking that he would get caught trying to search through all these files. Although under pressure Natsu worked the best and without thinking he figured out were 0601 would be and let his fingers dance to find the correct one.

Dull footsteps were heard but he ignored it and opened it up without care.

And that's were his heart got caught in his throat because he **_is_** in fact the **father**.

He didn't know how but his brain clicked off and moved on its own, putting the file back then closing the cabinet before he dashed to the doors. Once outside rain pelted hard against his skin and the cold made him numb, almost just as numb as he was on the inside.

He turned to the transparent doors to see the nurse making her way back to her seat and without a second glance he took a brisk walk in the rain to think.

_'__How did this happen?'_

The rain hit hard against his pounding head and relentlessly replayed everything, from start to end. Also thinking about how the odds stacked against him made him slightly sick and knowing this now made him incredibly guilty.

How can he tell Lucy about this now? Will she hate him and never trust him again? Or even worse… keep their child away from him.

_'__Calm down Natsu, she hasn't even made it through her first tri-whatever. I can't make her stressed now of all times' _he told himself mentally.

But knowing about this will keep him up all night every night till he can tell her… not that he wasn't getting that much sleep in any case.

He needed to speak to someone and he might know just who to speak to…

* * *

Fairy Tail was bustling as due to its usual Saturdays and now that the storm had passed more keen customers bustled in. It wasn't too long for Natsu to arrive after his brisk walk in the rain and his panicked phone call in the process got the person he wanted to see just in time.

He was still quite wet from the rain and let his hoodie hang on the chair next to him to dry. He ordered his usual coke and rum and without hesitation lit a cigarette, inhaling its harmful toxins.

"How many drinks have you had so far Ash Tray?" A familiar voice insulted

Natsu looked up to the voice insulting him, seeing it was the person he really needed to talk too.

"Get off my case Gray, I just started." The pinkette said grumpily.

It was very seldom that Natsu would call Gray by his name, usually it was their thing to give each other horrible names and then starting a fight as per their usual banter.

From the sound of his friends tone and the fact Gray was called by name, meant something was wrong.

The raven haired man sat down across the table and briefly remembered this was the same spot they sat two weeks ago whilst Natsu was in a similar looking state. That made Gray confused in a way. He knew Natsu was going back to work and being productive like he had been before, showing that his break-up was for the better.

Another thought had crossed his mind of Natsu's other trouble which was blonde and started with an 'L'. Gray hadn't really pried into that matter, so there was no telling what had happened to Lucy from the night Natsu spoke of her.

Curious of what was going through Natsu's mind Gray ordered himself a beer to prepare himself for what Natsu was going to say and from the sound of Natsu's call earlier, they were going to keep drinking for the rest of the night.

"… So… care to tell what's up?" Gray drawled out.

Natsu sighed "Where to start…" he mumbled.

Gray gulped for it sounded like a long tale.

"I guess I could tell ya that Lucy didn't get engaged… in fact her and Sting split."

Gray's expression was shocked. He thought to himself in that case why his friend was so miserable currently but decided to stay quiet and listen to the rest.

"I called Lucy about two weeks ago and arranged for us to meet and catch up yesterday. But then I got a call from the insemination place yesterday too to tell me that my sample was used and that it worked on the chick who bought it."

"Are you in a foul mood 'cause you finally got a shot with Lucy and stupidly gave your sperm away?"

Natsu took another puff and slowly let it out "No. Listen. After I heard the news I didn't really care and went to the market to buy stuff… yada yada and so forth. Lucy pitched up later and things were going great until she told me something… she told me she's pregnant."

Gray's heart dropped for Natsu but he tried to play it cool as to his personality "Shit. That's gotta make it uncomfortable for her and Sting and it throws your chances away with her now." He said swirling his beer around and gulping a large amount of it.

Natsu killed his cig and slouched forward slowly shaking his head "No it isn't Stings… It's mine."

Gray's eyes constricted and he abruptly stood up "W-what!"

"Shut up idiot!" Natsu hissed grabbing Gray's shirt yanking him down.

"But how?..." Gray breathed out ignoring the roughness Natsu displayed, as he would have punched him immediately but the news shocked him to the core.

Natsu looked at him as he already gave Gray a clue to the answer.

And it clicked

"She got inseminated… No way that is too coincidental… how are you sure?"

Natsu looked to the floor with a guilty expression "That doesn't really matter, what matters is that I need help here. I don't know what to do or how to think, this is just too unreal. What would Lucy say or do when she knows it's my sample she took and that it's my kid?" he said gripping his head tight as if his head was going to implode.

Gray furrowed his brow at his friend "There's only thing you can do now Flame Brain, tell her."

Natsu shook his head "You say it like I never thought of that, and that its easy… I don't want her to hate me. We just rekindled our friendship and that is a recipe for disaster."

Chucking a few notes on the table covering his half, Gray got up and started to leave "That may be but she's pregnant with your kid so she kinda has to stay friends with you and it's no one's fault idiot. Speak to her, she'll understand."

Natsu looked up, agreeing with Gray in his mind but never would say it out loud. So instead of doing that he offered him a smirk and watched Gray leave.

"You lost your shirt again idiot." He called out and threw the missing garment to his stripper friend.

"Screw yourself" Gray called out, catching his shirt and not breaking his cool routine.

As much as he didn't want to agree with his annoying stripper friend, he was right. Natsu is the father of Lucy's child to come, and if it meant jeopardising his friendship with her… it would be okay and he could live in peace that he gave her something she had wanted for a long time.

* * *

**It seems like I can't write long chapters in this story… oh well.**

**Thank you for being so patient readers! You have no idea how your patience helps me and the occasional reviews from the time span from my last update till now made me so happy. And to reassure you that I haven't been MIA I had been updating on my collab fanfiction with miss Jellybeanbubble and I wrote A LOT there but I'm back in business here and my other stories.**

**So I decided to update this again soon instead of updating my next fanfic because you readers have suffered the most waiting and dealing with drama. **

**Till next time! xoxo**


	5. Chapter 5

**F****irst off all… WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! This already has over 100 followers?! NO freaking way… I can't believe it… People actually like this boring story? I'm crying guys; you've all made me so happy! Thank you all so much!**

**So I am back one more time before going onto other story updates! **

**Just a little warning ahead is that there will be random time skips and a lot of filler chapters because writing about nine months of pregnancy is well, very hard, so I'll try my best in that regard.**

**P.S. Happy NALU week everyone! **

**Fifth Chapter commence!**

* * *

Sunday is the day out of all the rest, a day where you can put your feet up one last time before the new week begins. But for Lucy Heartfilia she never did go with the flow of normality, in fact she was on her messily made bed which was heaped with paper and laundry. She never cared for the mess because if she moved something then everything will collapse… in a sense.

She worked from home so this pile of mess was her life, and on top of it she had been obsessing over the growing bean in her belly, thus she would be constantly side tracked and researching about what she would be expecting in the months to come. Pinterest was her worst nightmare as she couldn't stop pinning everything, under a new account of course so her friends couldn't see.

Her main goal for the day though was to do extra research on her novel for that is who she was, someone who planned ahead. Baby things became her downfall but she needed to move on. As a writer though it was easier said than done because if it wasn't Pinterest distracting her it was her own train of thoughts.

One of her train of thoughts was that of Friday night going to Natsu's place for dinner. It had been such a great evening with him and she admitted to herself how much she missed him and what an idiot she was for severing ties with him for Sting's sake.

But then things got odd after she told him the news.

First it was the outburst when she told him it wasn't Sting's, he almost went on a rampage as something you'd expect Natsu to do but then when she told him she had been inseminated things became weird. She did have in mind of how he would react but she was thrown off by a completely different response. He didn't even let time pass before he asked her a question about when she confirmed her pregnancy.

Then he got tense, Lucy could see it as much as he tried to hide it. Maybe he heard something bad of inseminations and asked questions immediately. Afterwards he congratulated her and they spent the rest of the evening not bringing up the subject again.

Perhaps next time she would see him they could talk about it. Besides that subject making the atmosphere awkward they hadn't seen each other in so long, there was still weird tension between them. It's something she wants to discard and get things back to how it was before.

She picked up her phone and noticed it was close to lunch which her tummy also clarified for her. She opened up her messages and let her fingers glide to Natsu's number and started to text.

'_Have you eaten yet?' _she texted and sent.

Her phone pinged immediately _'Was actually __about __ to head out for takeout' _he replied

'_Take out shmake out, come over I'll give you real meal.' _She mocked him replying

'_*Sigh* if you insist' _he jokingly texted with an emoji.

'_I'll see you in ten then' _she texted while rolling her eyes then set her phone next to her bed and then gently got up not to disrupt her paper monstrosity.

She slid on her sandals and glided to her kitchen putting pasta shells in a pot of water then putting it on the stove top and immediately started chopping vegetables for her easy and quick pasta dish. As she put the pot of water on the stove with the pasta inside she heard her doorbell ring along with Plue barking his head off.

She shushed the hound and opened the door to see a nonchalant Natsu. He smiled at her but her immediate reaction was worry; he looked like he hadn't had any rest. His eyes had bags, his skin was pale as he did have very tan skin and his eyes looked dull.

Despite how he looked he pulled the largest grin he could muster for her "Hiya Luce."

With worry in her voice she tried to hide, she smiled back and greeted him "Hey Natsu, come in I just put pasta on the stove."

His face lit up more at the mentioning of food and quickly came in. She walked ahead of him and overheard him stop and pet Plue.

She had finished her chopping and sniffed a bit at the onion fumes, once the ingredients were all in the pan Lucy felt Natsu hover behind her. She wasn't sure it was because he was impatient for food or… oh no.

She dropped her wooden spoon in the pan once she realised what he was up to. His fingers made contact with her ribcage and started to tickle her in spots she knew were tender.

Her laugh and squeals filled the air while he was enjoying her laugh fill his ears. She tried so hard to move from his grasp and repeatedly told him to stop between breaths but he had caged her well as this wasn't the first time he'd tickled her.

She managed to squirm around to face him and smiled wickedly as she knew a weak spot of his. He saw the action and lifted his own hands to cover the weak spot but she was too quick. Her hands reached for his ears and relentlessly tugged as if he was a small child in need for a scolding.

He pulled back and whined like a small child "Okay! Let go! I stopped!"

She let go and grinned "Serves you right"

She forgot about the food in the pan and rushed back to it, stirring it quickly so it wouldn't burn then put some water in and covered it.

She sighed in relief and looked to Natsu who was slightly sulking but changed his mood once the smell of her cooking reached his nostrils and his mouth watering slightly.

Once everything was in the pan and still needed time to cook she put a lid over and set everything in motion till thirty minutes have passed. Once she did she sighed in relief that she was done and took a seat at her small kitchen table.

She thought it was odd Natsu was quiet during everything; usually he would be chatting to her about things that weren't important but still made it seem like it. He wasn't the type to let silence fill the room.

"Natsu you look weird hovering in my kitchen, come sit" she insisted

Natsu cautiously sat down which confirmed her thoughts of him being weird. She eyed him a bit watching his body language which was stiff and rigid, maybe nervous but she couldn't be certain.

"You okay Natsu?" she asked concerning.

He jumped a little at her question and repeatedly swore in his head. Despite what was going on in head his voice was as steady as a rock.

"You do know you're talking to me right? Of course I'm fine weirdo!" he joked

She frowned not only at the tease but the fact she knows he's lying.

"Well I do know that you are a pretty bad liar dummy" she said pointing at his bouncy leg, she knows he starts to do that when he lies. He gulped softly which was loud enough for Lucy to hear.

"It isn't me is it? Is Lisanna okay with you being over here today?"

He coughed awkwardly, he meant to tell her on Friday night but her news came first and all his mind had been focusing on was her alone.

"Right… um no. I was gonna tell you the other night that her and I broke up over two weeks ago." He informed uneasily.

Her eyes widened "Oh Natsu I'm sorry! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Natsu cringed when she asked that, although it mainly had to do with him still being in love with her he couldn't very well tell her that.

"Sorry Luce, but your news was way more important on Friday than mine." He flattered hoping she wouldn't pry too much into it.

"Still Natsu, break ups are hard and if I had known you were hurting…" sadly trailing off Natsu panicked.

"Luce I'm fine! I broke it off cause I didn't want to lead her on, is all. I did hurt a little but that was before I got to see you again."

He didn't realize what he said until it was too late. Sure it was meant in a romantic sense but it can be perceived as him just missing her as a friend. He would just have to see how she perceived it.

Her cheeks were a little flushed but she remembered that Natsu had always been sweet like that. What a fool she felt for letting herself listen to Sting and not be friends with such a lovable Natsu.

"Well as long as you're not hurting anymore. And it's a shame you didn't like her like that, you made a cute couple… I kinda wish someone told me, like Mira or one of the other girls but I guess I hadn't really been a good friend lately with them."

He smiled softly at her kindness yet again. It was very seldom Lucy would not be in contact with her girlfriends but taking in what she had been through the past few weeks, who could blame her. After getting harshly dumped then braving up to get inseminated, it's no wonder she hadn't stayed in touch with anyone. She worked from home so it's easy not going into society when needed.

Natsu though did feel special that she wasn't too busy to spend time with him. He believed he made the right choice making contact with her not too long ago "So does that mean I won't be the only one to know about… ya know…"

She blinked slowly trying to understand what he meant until it clicked "Oh no, I'm not telling anyone else until the first trimester is done. I don't want to announce I'm pregnant to everybody in case I might have a miscarriage. Better to be safe."

Natsu nodded faintly listening to the information but is also finding a way to tell her the news that might… ruin… their relationship… forever.

Natsu panicked inside but tried to get to his announcement casually "S-smart. But I can tell your positive it'll follow though."

She smiled lifting her hand to her stomach "I am scared though… raising him or her alone."

He perked up a little "Well I mean- hypothetically then- if you knew your baby's daddy it would be less scary?"

She looked at him blank faced thinking "Well then me getting an unknown donation would be pointless then."

'_Wait… what!'_ he screamed internally

"Uh… what?" is all he could muster.

She leaned back in her chair crossing her arms as she normally did when she would get stubborn "The whole reason I went there was to have a baby without the dad. Sting was a huge wakeup call that a future with a guy and having a family with him, is unpredictable. Let's say we did get married and had kids, what would stop him from cheating on me like before? Imagine the setbacks! There'd be fighting for custody, a broken family, angsty kids and well… an unhappy life for me." She explained herself.

"So really this is a blessing! I get an adorable baby and no drama from a guy! I mean come on Natsu, no guy would let me stay friends with you. Sting was a great example of that." She complained bitterly.

Natsu's mouth was drying, unmoving of what he has desperately been trying to tell her since he arrived. He instead closed his mouth and licked his lips, slowly trying to calm down his thoughts but her next question made his head go blank.

"Why do you ask?"

He didn't even think but his mind did its own will "No reason, just wondered if the kid would like to know his or her dad someday…"

Lucy hmmed at his statement "Well I'm sure a father figure would be missing in the house… but I'm sure Uncle Natsu could help in that area!" she said smiling.

He blushed instantly _'What does she mean by that?!'_

"Well I mean that's if you're okay if my kid needs someone besides myself to speak to right? Especially if it's a boy, I'd be no help trying to be a manly figure."

Natsu calmed himself as she was talking, she always knew how to friendzone someone after she says misleading things. He always knew she would see him like that and the assumption of him being in her life as more than a friend, seemed too good to be true.

Lucy saw her friend's face looked solemn "Well that's only if you want to…"

The statement made Natsu jump "O-of course! Sorry I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around this all." he partially lied

She nodded "I understand, and I know we just rekindled our friendship so I'm sure you might be hesitant around me. But know this Natsu, you never stopped being important to me and I won't ever leave you behind like I did again." She said in a shaky voice.

Natsu's heart clenched at her words, for many reasons but mainly for his own selfish thoughts.

It was clear to him now that he will give her what she wants despite what he wishes or thinks is best. At this point he will remain her friend and nothing more; he'll be her ally, her child's- his child's ally as to being referred to uncle if that's what Lucy wants then he'll watch the child grow and stay by Lucy's side and be whatever she wants him to be.

He would only pray that the child would take after Lucy, or else that would be something troubling. In the meantime he will be her tool to get through her pregnancy… that actually stirred more questions in him. He tossed all thoughts away as he saw Lucy on the brink of tears

He stood up from his chair to crouch in front of hers so she could look down on him "Woah Luce of course I'll be here. You can ask me to do anything; if you need someone to pull back your hair as you puke, make nightly trips to the store, be there with all the mood swings, stay by your side on your due date and helping you with the kid then uncle Natsu is your guy!" he smiled happily to her.

She listened intently and let a fat smile cross her lips and she grabbed the pinkette into a hug "Thank you, you have no idea how much I needed to hear those words. I'm really scared Natsu" she whispered into his shirt which she was dampening by the second.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly "Don't be, I'll be here the whole time."

She let go of him wiping the remaining tears off her face and remembered that the food was more than ready to eat.

She jumped up and ran to the stove to in a flurry "Ahhh, sorry Natsu you must be hungry!"

Still crouching he chuckled to himself and lifted himself to stand; his stomach did make a large growl at the mentioning that the food was done.

Although he had one last thing to do

"Hey Luce, I'm just stepping outside for a bit, I'll be back." He told her as he was heading to the front door.

"You better not be smoking Mister! Your fumes aren't welcome here." Lucy yelled down the hall.

"I'm quitting don't worry!" he called back.

As he stepped out he plopped himself on the outside step and opened an app on his phone and started to text.

'_Couldn't do it… Lucy made it clear she doesn't want to know who the dad is. I'm pulling out' _he typed sending it to the only person he had spoken to about the situation.

Not even a minute later he got a message back from Gray who he gracefully named 'Ice Bastard' on his phone.

'_Dude she'll find out when that kid is born. Are you willing to risk everything just because she doesn't want to know?'_

Natsu huffed _'Yes I am plus I promised her I'll be here for her. And hopefully the kid will take after her.'_

'_FINE do what you want; it's your life after all. But remember this is gonna come with a price Flame Brain.' _ Gray snidely commented.

'_You think I don't know that? Just do me a favour and don't say anything! You don't know about me being the donor and you don't know Lucy is pregnant. Understand?'_

Gray didn't even have the energy to type back but just sent a thumbs up and a middle finger. Natsu dismissed it and closed his phone.

He knew the risks and he didn't care.

As long as Lucy was happy, so was he.

* * *

**And you all thought he was going to tell her…**

**Sorry you all must be frustrated at me but this was for plot purposes. I personally would love to relieve you guys from plot pain but it's harder than it looks. Or maybe I'm really a sadist? We'll never know…**

**Half of this is thanks to the flu. I feel super ill and I have some relief writing. I literally finished this at 1:30am, UGGGGGGH.**

**Sorry if this chapter was crap, you can blame my flu.**

**Till next time!**


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